A strange dream

"School?"

Firefly, who had been happily slurping her noodles, stopped eating.

"Yeah. I don't think you've ever been to school, right? Classes start tomorrow, so how about I take you to experience campus life?"

He invited Firefly to school because he remembered that her dream was to be an ordinary person. And what did ordinary people experience? That's right! Going to school!

As the saying went, a life without going to school was incomplete!

"I could, but would I get in the way of your studies?"

She had previously looked up schools and learned that they were places for acquiring knowledge. From what she understood, studying was like fighting a war, where you had to face a boss called the college entrance exam.

In her eyes, Lin Yu was very good at his studies, but she hadn't been in this world long, after all, and wasn't sure how his abilities ranked here.

When he heard her ask whether she would interfere with his studies, he covered his mouth and forcibly held back his laughter.

He was a university student about to graduate. What else did he need to study? He had long since finished everything he needed to learn.

"Don't worry, you won't. I'm about to graduate, so I don't need to study anymore."

"Really?"

"Really. More genuine than a pearl!"

"So you don't need to take the college entrance exam either?"

"That's right...!"

Wait, something wasn't right! Lin Yu, who had just been giving her such firm assurances, seemed to have noticed something.

The college entrance exam?

"Hang on! What college entrance exam?"

This time, it was Firefly's turn to be confused.

"It's..."

After some explanation, Lin Yu finally realized that they hadn't been on the same wavelength at all. One was talking about high school, the other about university. It would have been stranger if they hadn't gotten confused!

But he couldn't blame Firefly for that. After all, he didn't seem to have ever told her he was a university student.

So Lin Yu gave Firefly another lengthy explanation before finally clearing things up.

"Oh-so that's it. You're a university student, Lin Yu, and you've actually already taken the college entrance exam."

Lin Yu nodded in confirmation.

"Then how much did you score on the college entrance exam, Lin Yu? Were you strong?"

Upon learning that Lin Yu had already taken the exam, she was very curious about his abilities.

From what she understood, it seemed to be used to test an individual's strength.

Lin Yu hadn't wanted to say, but he couldn't withstand Firefly's relentless pestering and finally gave in.

"All right, all right! I'll tell you, okay?!"

"Yes, yes!"

Firefly looked at Lin Yu expectantly, making him feel embarrassed.

Telling someone else his college entrance exam score always felt pretty embarrassing.

But there was no helping it. He had already agreed, so he couldn't back out now.

"Ahem! This humble fellow scored 698 on the college entrance exam back then."

"Wow! That's amazing!"

Although she didn't know what rank that score put him in, she couldn't go wrong by praising him first. This was that thing called... social finesse!

"Oh, you're too kind. Hehe."

Lin Yu scratched his head bashfully at the praise.

He had always kept a straight face when people praised him before, so why couldn't he handle a little praise from Firefly?

"All right, I've said everything there is to say, so let me invite you again. Would you like to look around the campus?"

"Sure~ Since I won't get in your way, what reason do I have to refuse?"

"Great. Then we'll go to school together tomorrow."

With her concerns gone, Firefly readily accepted Lin Yu's invitation this time.

Who wouldn't want to go out and have fun? Still, she also realized that she seemed to have changed a great deal. She seemed... to have become more ordinary?

Her old self probably never would have thought about these things at all...

But now, she did think about them, and she could do them too. It was all thanks to the person in front of her.

She simply watched him, the faintest hint of a smile on her lips.

As he ate his noodles, Lin Yu noticed Firefly's gaze and looked up toward her.

"Is there something on my face?"

"No, nothing."

Firefly shook her head, then lowered it to continue enjoying the fried noodles Lin Yu had brought back.

Lin Yu looked puzzled at first, then adopted an expression that said, "Oh well," and continued eating.

After polishing off their late-night snack and cleaning up the battlefield, the two were about ready to turn in.

It was almost one in the morning, and they still had to get up early tomorrow.

"Good night."

"Good night."

After they wished each other good night, Firefly returned to the bedroom, and Lin Yu lay down on the sofa.

Already quite tired and having had some alcohol as well, Lin Yu soon found his eyelids growing heavy and gradually fell asleep.

[Reporting to Mother. I have successfully infiltrated. Everything is proceeding according to your plan.]

[...]

[Yes. I will keep a close eye on him.]

[...]

[All for the Master...]

Ring-ring! Ring-ring!

"Ugh..."

Still sound asleep, Lin Yu was woken by the "melodious" ringing.

He grabbed his phone and immediately shut off the source of the disturbance, rubbed his eyes, which he could barely open, and shook his throbbing head.

He initially thought he had drunk too much wheat juice, but that wasn't right either. Although he had indeed gotten tipsy, it had only been a mild buzz. Why did he feel as though he had gotten completely wasted?

Even more absurdly, he'd had a very strange dream last night. Rather than a dream, it was more like listening to someone talk-a solo comedy routine, at that.

More absurd still, he now couldn't remember a single thing that voice had said.

Had he been so exhausted that he had started hallucinating?

Dragging his muddled brain into the bathroom, he splashed cold water on his face to clear his head.

"Phew~ Much better."

The throbbing eased somewhat. After washing up, Lin Yu went to the bedroom door and knocked.

"Time to get up, Firefly. No sleeping in."

The door opened as soon as he finished speaking.

"Morning~"

Firefly greeted Lin Yu, looking full of energy.

Her suddenly getting up early took him by surprise. She usually got up so late that he had once wondered whether she was secretly staying up late in her room.

She had even changed her clothes, and she was wearing the schoolgirl uniform he had picked out before.

He'd had a little ulterior motive when he bought that outfit.

After all, he had paid for everything. Surely he could treat his eyes a little?

"Take a look, Lin Yu. Does this outfit work?"

Firefly swayed her skirt as she showed it off to Lin Yu.

A white short-sleeved blouse with a mint-green bow at the collar paired perfectly with a mint-green plaid pleated skirt. With white over-the-knee socks and little leather shoes to complete the outfit, she radiated youth.

Firefly had quite a generous figure. Although he had bought a loose-fitting style, there was still that tantalizing, half-hidden quality around her chest. It was simply too tempting.

"I saw before that people seemed to dress like this when they went to school, and you happened to have bought me a set. Say, Lin Yu, had you already planned to take me to school, so you bought this especially for it?"

"Huh...? Mm, yes, yes. That's exactly it."

"I knew it! I didn't realize you were so thoughtful, Lin Yu!"

Firefly's admiring gaze made him feel so guilty he could barely lift his head. Although lying was wrong, she would probably look down on him if he told the truth. He could already imagine her looking at him like he was trash.

Still, he had to admit that the outfit really did have a school vibe. Firefly had probably watched too much anime. They did often feature schoolgirl uniforms, especially Japanese school anime, which were almost all like that.

"Oh, right. Are you wearing safety shorts?"

Since it was a short skirt, they still had to watch out for accidental exposure, or lechers would set their sights on her.

"Yes! Don't worry, I've got them on properly."

As she spoke, Firefly lifted her skirt to reveal the safety shorts underneath.

"Ah! Put it down!"

Lin Yu hurriedly covered his eyes and urged Firefly to lower her skirt.

Although Firefly didn't know what had gotten into Lin Yu, she obediently released her grip on her skirt.

Seeing that Firefly had let go, he lowered the hands covering his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.

Then Lin Yu placed both hands firmly on Firefly's shoulders and spoke with a serious expression.

"Remember, Firefly. From now on, you mustn't lift your skirt in front of anyone. Not even me!"

Even with safety shorts on, deliberately lifting her skirt like that was basically no different from not wearing any.

Lin Yu's suddenly serious tone really startled her, but she still voiced her agreement to his request.

"Mm... I understand."